


Apathy

by everythingsace



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: But whatever, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, way too many debriefing scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 22:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10931145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingsace/pseuds/everythingsace
Summary: Cap was wrong. They were all so wrong. Tony cared a fucking lot.





	Apathy

Clint made a promise to himself during the Avengers’ second debrief that he wouldn’t get involved in the arguments. He gets praise, he’ll take it. He gets criticism, he’ll take it. He might tease a little, add some banter and jokes into the mix, but as soon as someone got serious, like actually angry, he was _out._ He wasn’t getting into that shit.

He couldn’t even remember what that first argument (post-Chitauri invasion, that is) was. He just remembered both Cap and Stark each suddenly raising their voices, and then the debriefing went twenty minutes overtime. So yeah. No adding any stock to that stew.

He rolled his eyes as he tuned back in to register the topic of the current argument.

“Thirty-seven people, Tony! Thirty-seven people that would have _lived_ if you had been in your assigned position! But you--”

“Listen, that building was unstable! If I had stayed where I was, then--”

“Thirty-seven families would not be grieving right now, Tony! You--”

“Damn it, _listen!_ JARVIS--”

“If you just listened to me for once in your life…”

As the two continued to yell and snap at each other, Clint rolled his head to look at Natasha, who raised an eyebrow that was a little smudged from battle. (Clint didn’t point that out, though.) He cocked his head towards the shouting match. She raised both eyebrows now, widening her eyes to show her annoyance. She glanced across the table, and when she smirked, Clint followed her gaze. He couldn’t help but give a smirk of his own. Banner’s cheek was flat against the table as he dozed, his mouth open. Shit, if they didn’t get out of here soon, the poor guy would start snoring.

“Enough!” Nick shouted, eye rolling, and Bruce shot up in his seat, giving a startled snort that sent Clint into cackles.

Natasha simply rolled her eyes fondly as Clint smacked the table repeatedly and Bruce turned red. Thor merely chuckled, grinning, but the jocular mood quickly faded as they realized Fury was still glaring… _furiously_ at him. Ha. Clint will never get tired of that joke.

Natasha kicked his calf, pulling his attention back to Nick.

“I am sick of this shit,” the man said, giving each of them a withering look. His eyes lingered on Tony, and Clint noticed the genius’s jaw lock as he silently challenged Nick.

“You both need to shut the fuck up and listen to each other. Rogers, maybe Stark had a reason. Stark, if you _do_ have a reason, you need to inform the others as soon as you’ve got it. You need to explain what you’re doing when it’s happening, so the others aren’t left in the dark.”

“I didn’t have the time--”

“What if that happens when you need to catch Clint or Nat? What if you leave your position then, and ‘don’t have the time’?” Steve said, and Clint huffed, sliding back in his chair. “What happens then, huh? _Their_ lives would be lost; would you care then?”

“Who says I don’t care, Steve?” Tony demanded.

“You sure as hell don’t act like it!” Cap said, his hand slamming down onto the table, and Clint was tempted to mutter, “Language,” but he also valued his life, so.

“Of course I fucking care! Of course I fucking care, why the hell do you think I do this? Why do you think I created Iron Man?”

“So you wouldn’t be blamed for your past mistakes!”

“Do not be unfair, Captain,” Thor interjected, and everyone turned to the god. “You know that is not true. Anthony has proven time and time again that he created his armor in order to protect Midgard.”

Steve sighed, his eyes shifting heavenward before looking back at Thor. “You’re right. Tony, I--”

But he was interrupted by the door slamming shut, and Clint’s eyes followed Tony through the glass wall as the genius stormed down the hallway, yet somehow still looking somewhat put together.

Nick covered his forehead with his hand, rubbing across the worry lines. He glared at the remaining members of the team before saying, in a tone Clint had heard far too many times before and _never_ ended well: “We’ll meet again tomorrow. Nine A.M. If a single one of you is late, you’re all losing an eye.” He turned around and left with a swish of his dramatic coat.

Clint slowly turned his gaze to Cap, who looked like he was trying not to punch a wall, if his clenched fist was anything to go by.

“Well,” Clint said slowly, cautiously rising out of his seat. “If you don’t mind me, I’ve got some leftover pad thai calling my name.”

“Ate it last night,” Natasha said, standing up beside him before making her own way out.

“What?” Clint objected, rushing after her. “Nat!”

* * *

The next day, Clint strolled into the meeting room early, jittery from his morning pot of coffee. He was a little surprised to see Tony already there, his back turned to the door. The billionaire was staring out the window, and Clint slowed to a stop as he saw the man’s hand was shaking. His hands _never_ shook.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Clint leaned to the side so he could get a better look of the genius, and he saw that one of his hands was tapping against his chest-- the reactor.

Carefully and silently, Clint took the few steps back out to the hallway again. Then, he walked back into the room, making sure to make his footsteps louder this time.

As he expected, the engineer twirled around, dropping his other hand before clapping. Tony had a smile on his face, one that had been missing a moment earlier, and his hands were suddenly still.

“Birdbrain! Are you _early?”_ Tony said, tilting his head before straightening. “Who are you really? Where’s the real Barton?”

Clint hesitated for a moment. He wanted to know what was up with the scientist, but he could tell that Tony probably didn’t want to talk about it, not with the way he plastered on the mask so quickly. (And naturally, he noted uneasily.)

“Well, you know what they say. The early _bird_ gets the worm.”

Tony gave him a dry look, plopping down into a chair across from Clint, who sat down as well. “Is this your way of telling me JARVIS has to stock up on insects now?” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“Worms aren’t insects,” Clint said. “They’re… something else, I don’t know.”

“They’re phyla. I don’t know what conversation I just walked into,” and Clint spun towards Bruce with a grin on his face.

“Yes, exactly. They’re phyla. Thank you,” Clint said, nodding his appreciation, before turning towards Tony again. He had an actual smile on his face now, which was a victory in Clint’s book.

Bruce sat next to Tony, giving an exasperated shrug. “You’re welcome,” he said, only giving Tony raised eyebrows when the genius lifted his feet onto his lap. He looked at Clint with a look that said, _“Can you believe him?”_ But Clint knew Bruce didn’t mind when it came to his science bro.

The rest of the team came in gradually, and finally at nine A.M. on the dot, Fury stalked in, already glaring. (Does the man know how _not_ to glare?)

“Alright,” he said, “Now, as we were getting to yesterday, before _someone_ threw a fit--”

And just like that, the mask was back. Tony straightened before leaning forward casually and giving a frustrating smirk to Fury. Nick rolled his eye, before continuing, looking directly at Steve and Tony: “I need better communication on this team. Half of these goddamn meetings are you two arguing and I’m getting real fucking tired of it, and I don’t think I’m the only one,.” Fury, Tony, and Steve turned towards Clint, Nat, Thor, and Bruce. Nat just quirked an eyebrow while Clint nodded emphatically. Bruce and Thor played innocent, the bastards.

Steve turned his head towards Tony, raising his eyebrows and nodding expectantly.

Tony gaped. “What? _I’m_ supposed to apologize? I--”

“Stark, just explain why you weren’t in your assigned position,” Fury interrupted. An uncomfortable feeling settled in Clint’s stomach at that, but he wasn’t sure why.

Stark’s jaw clenched shut, and he shut his eyes for a moment, the mask vanishing for just a second. Then, he raised his gaze and leveled it with Steve’s. “I _told_ you. JARVIS identified an unstable building, and--”

“You didn’t--” Steve started, but Tony plowed on.

“--and there were a hundred and forty-three people inside. It was an obvious decision.” Everyone stared at Tony for a moment. They hadn’t known the severity of the situation in the building.

“How did you save those people?” Nick asked, breaking the silence.

“I flew to the fifth floor, where one of the main beams wasn’t secure. If that beam went down, so would the twenty-five levels above it. And then the other five, obviously. JARVIS and I located the best place to support it, so I held it there while JARVIS hacked into the intercom of the building to tell everybody to evacuate. Which they did.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us what was going on?” Steve asked, calmer now.

Tony threw up his hands before running them through his greasy hair (when was the last time he showered?) and shrugging. “I don’t know! It just wasn’t my first thought to do that. My focus was on keeping that building steady.”

“I believe this quandary can be resolved if we just hereafter agree to inform each other when a change of plans occurs. Perhaps we can have our incorporeal friend JARVIS remind us if we do happen to forget. We also must learn to trust each other,” Thor said, looking at Steve pointedly. Clint had never imagined a god looking impatient, but he figured Thor was probably the spitting image right now. At least the guy was keeping the atmosphere civil, though.

“Thank you, Thor,” Nick said, before looking at the rest of the team expectantly.

Everyone nodded, muttering their assent. Tony ducked his head and fiddled with his sleeve as Steve apologized.

Fury rolled his eye. “Was that so damn difficult? Class dismissed.”

As the director left, Tony gaped. “That’s it? Nine in the morning? For a five-minute meeting?” When the others just shrugged, he threw his hands up. “Fuck, I’m going back to sleep. Later, losers.” _Back to sleep._ Clint scoffed quietly.

After Tony set out, Steve quickly did too, heading in the opposite direction. Clint turned towards the remaining group. “So… did Tony win this round or did Cap?”

“Tony, I think,” Bruce said, frowning. “But he sure didn’t seem happy about it.”

Clint agreed with the observation, narrowing his eyes.

* * *

“J, where’s Tony?” Clint asked, pouting at his empty pot that was _supposed_ to be full of coffee. The resident genius was the only other one who drank it by the half-gallon, and that coffee was _Clint’s_ coffee.

“Sir is in his workshop, Agent Barton. However, the workshop has been locked.”

Clint narrowed his eyes, furrowing his brow. Tony rarely actually locked down the workshop. He holed himself up in there all the time, but he hardly ever cut off access for the rest of the team.

“Why?” Clint asked.

“I’m afraid sir has requested I not disclose that information.”

Clint set down the coffee pot and headed to the elevator, frowning. Locking down the workshop was bad enough, but refusing to say why? That seemed a little more worrying.

Clint beelined towards the closest vent, ignoring JARVIS’s immediate protest.

“Agent Barton, I must object. Sir wishes to be alone.”

“Oh, come on, J,” Clint said, already crawling towards the closest ventilation shaft. “There’s something up, isn’t there? Otherwise we wouldn’t be locked off?”

“Sir has his reasons, Agent Barton, even if I am not able to disclose them.”

“Yeah, okay. _Reasons.”_ Clint rolled his eyes, before carefully descending down the drop. Whatever ‘reasons’ Stark had, Clint would find out.

* * *

The blasting Black Sabbath made it infinitely easier for Clint to navigate his way towards the ‘shop. Using his elbows and upper arms, he finally reached the closest grate, and he peered through to see… not what he expected.

Stark wasn’t working on anything, he wasn’t blasting away at something, wasn’t scolding Dum-E for using his prized fire extinguisher. Instead… he was staring. Blankly. At a hologram of faces.

Faintly over the music, Clint could hear JARVIS trying to notify Tony of his presence, but all the archer could focus on was the way Tony looked so… dead.

Clint watched as Tony sighed, before pulling up a holographic keyboard and screen. He began typing, and Clint’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull as he heard, “J, give the Morenos… two hundred thousand? What was Alejandro’s… fuck, of course. Dammit!” Tony’s hands moved to his head, and he slammed his elbows against his desk. “God fucking dammit!” he cried.

“Three-fifty. God, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

 _Oh._ Suddenly, the faces on the holograms registered for Clint, and _oh._

There were thirty-seven faces. _._

“J,” Tony finally said, his voice cracking horribly. “Give Ms. Moreno a full-paid tuition to the college of her choice. I can’t get her a job, but I can get her the education she needs. Also, pay for any child care she needs for the other little ones. I’ll-- I’ll send her a letter with my condolences, explaining everything.” He swiped away the hologram and rubbed his forehead, and Clint could hear a quiet _“shit.”_

Cap was wrong. They were all _so wrong_. Tony cared a fucking _lot._

* * *

So, Clint broke his promise.

They were arguing again, because once again, a life was lost, and Steve found a way to blame it on Tony, despite him actually remaining in his spot this time.

It was only one person, but it was still a person. The woman hadn’t been inside, whether it was because she wasn’t fast enough or she wasn’t listening, they’d never know. But she’d gotten hit with a projectile from the latest batch of crazy robots.

Stark had been tearing down the bots, as he was meant to do, and JARVIS notified Tony, but it was too late. It wasn’t Tony’s fault, but Clint could already tell that Tony was blaming himself. How hadn’t Clint noticed before?

Steve snaps at Tony, says something about how Tony doesn’t care, and something inside Clint snaps.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Cap, he absolutely fucking cares!”

The whole room went silent, and everyone stared at him, Natasha looking a little concerned in her discreet way of hers, Fury looking mildly surprised, the rest with wide eyes.

“What?” Steve asked, looking genuinely lost, and for some reason that made Clint all the more pissed.

“I’m getting sick of you just assuming that he doesn’t care. He _does!_ He’s careful and calculating and I’m pretty sure he cares more than any of us! You keep assuming--”

“Whoa, okay, Barton, chill. It’s--” Tony started, but Clint cut him off, jabbing a finger in his direction.

“It’s _not_ fine! _You_ know it’s not fine!” He whirled on the captain, who was staring at Clint like he’d maybe gone nuts. “You always just _assume_ Tony doesn’t care, but that’s literally the opposite of what’s happening!” He spared a glance towards Tony, then said, “You know those thirty-seven people you _insisted_ Tony didn’t care about?”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Clint, don’t--”

“What?” asked Cap, looking at Tony curiously.

“He knows every single one of their names. He knows their families’ names. He gives those families all he can, because he feels horrible about every life lost,” Clint said, and Steve looked over at Tony, as if asking if Clint was telling the truth.

 _“Clint,”_ Tony said through clenched teeth. Clint raised his eyebrows, throwing up his hands.

“Why do you deal with this? Why don’t you tell anyone what you do?” When Tony just floundered, he turned back to Steve before counting on his fingers. “He pays for those families’ tuition, child care, medical bills, and _in addition,_ he gives a couple hundred thousand dollars so they can live comfortably.

“What?” Steve asked, looking at Tony, all heartbroken and hurt. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“You never give him a fucking chance!” Clint snapped. “You assume the worst of Tony every chance you get, despite him giving you a home and helping you adjust to the future, despite him paying for the damages the Avengers cause, despite him handling all the press. He does everything for us, yet you still think he doesn’t give a shit! _You’re_ the one who’s careless, Rogers! _You’re_ the one who doesn’t know a damn thing about his teammate!”

He smacked Steve’s hand away as he shoved past, out of the room and into the hallway. He got to the elevator, turning around once he was inside, only to see Tony running up to him.

“What the fuck?” Tony said as soon as he reached him.

“What the fuck, me? What the fuck, you?”

“No, okay, fuck you, Barton, I don’t need a stupid knight in shining armor just because Cap’s being a dick! Just because-- because you for some reason think I’m _good_ doesn’t mean--”

“What the hell do you mean ‘for some reason’? _Of course you’re fucking good!_ And I’m not trying to be a knight, I’m just fucking tired of Cap acting like you’re a sociopath when it wasn’t your fault and you obviously care!”

“That doesn’t mean you have to fight for my honor and shit, I can fucking handle it--”

“If you can handle it, why don’t you? Why do you keep that shit secret, helping those families?”

“ _Because_ I don’t want it to sound like those people were just prices to pay! Alejandro Moreno was a sixteen-year-old kid who worked to provide money for his family, Julia Graspen was a single mother of three kids, and Benjamin Olter was saving up money to help his mother into a nursing home. They’re worth _so much more_ than any amount of money. And how the hell did you even know I did that shit anyway? Are you spying on me?”

“I was climbing through the vents, which _you_ expanded to make it easier for me to do, so you can’t get mad at me,” Clint pointed out, and Tony finally untensed, falling back against the wall.

“I tried to tell you, sir, but you were too wrapped up in what you were doing to hear me,” JARVIS said.

“Shut the fuck up, J,” Tony muttered tiredly, before glancing at Clint. “Sorry. For yelling at you.”

“And I’m sorry for exploding. Not really, though.” Tony gave him a half-hearted glare.

“Cap’s gonna try to apologize to me for _weeks._ You know I don’t like feelings.”

Clint rolled his eyes. “Good. He should apologize. And grovel. Make him grovel.”

_“Clint.”_

“Fine.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, this isn't my favorite work (it's kinda choppy? I dunno), but y'know, I love Clint (when CA:CW doesn't exist, as is usually the case for me) and I love Tony, so voila. Hope you liked it! My tumblr is tonystarkreactor and now, I'm off to take a calculus final. (Ugh.)


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